How to Make Cool Super Mario Brothers Cupcakes

To celebrate my 8 year old's birthday in class, I made cupcakes.  Since she is very girly, I made Hello Kitty Cupcakes, but I realized that there were quite a few boys in the class that may want something a little less girly.  I found this cute idea on the Cake Central website where someone made Hello Kitty Cupcakes and Super Mario Brothers ones for the same party.
I picked 2 of the elements from the game that are very easy - the power-ups (mushrooms) and stars.


Start by baking your cupcakes in preferred flavor (I chose white cake and chocolate cake).  I also used basic canned white frosting and then tinted it to color.  I made 1 batch of white, 1 light green, 1 orange, 1 plain white, and then I also had made chocolate frosting.  You would not need to go this far.  You could keep it basic and just chose 1 color.  Also, you will need a small batch of white fondant. 

To make the mushroom (aka Power-Up) stalk: 

First roll out the white fondant to be about 1/4" thick.  Start by cutting a strip of white fondant about 1" thick.  I used my Fondant Ribbon Cutter.  


Then, take your circle cutter and cut out the top half of your circle (you could cut all the way through, but then you would waste some of your fondant that way).

Next, using the same circle, cut the bottom of the mushroom off.  
Now, you should have a shape with straight sides, but rounded bottom and top.
Once you have then cut out, put them aside under a glass to keep them from drying out.

While you have the white rolled out, go ahead and cut out your white spots for the mushroom.  I looked through my stuff to find a circle cutter small enough, but ended up using my icing circle tip.
You need 3 spots for each mushroom that you are making.  
Put these with your stalks to keep from drying.

Now, you will need to color a small amount of the fondant red and roll out to the same thickness as your white stalks.
Cut out a circle from the red fondant and place on your thin fondant foam and using your fondant smoother, lightly pull along ("pet") top to either side, so that the fondant becomes an oval.  You could also use your finger if you are careful.

I also then squished the top and bottom in with my fingers.

To put it all together - start by cutting a small portion off of the bottom of your red mushroom cap with your same circle cutter (this will mimic the top of the stalk).
Now, place your stalk against the bottom of your cap and using a small amount of water or clear vanilla extract, meld the 2 pieces together.  Use a tool to blend them and bind them a little better.

Use your smoothing tool to make your "spots" flatter and wider.  Attach 3 spots across the cap of your mushroom using water/vanilla and press in with the smoother.

To add the eyes, color a very small amount of fondant black.  Roll a tiny ball of black fondant into a ball.  Lengthen into an oval.  Place eyes onto stalk and press flat.  Use water/vanilla and press further if needed to attach.

And you are done!

I also cut out stars from yellow fondant and added black eyes.  Place the mushroom or stars on top of the iced cupcakes to complete the look.
It's really easy.
I hope you like them and they are the hit of your Mario party!
Meagan